Groundwater Hydraulics and Pollutant Transport

Abstract

3R55. Groundwater Hydraulics and Pollutant Transport. - RJ Charbeneau (Dept of Civil Eng, Env and Water Resources Eng Program, Univ of Texas, Austin TX). Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River NJ. 2000. 593 pp. ISBN 0-13-975616-7. $105.00.Reviewed by SA Sherif (Dept of Mech Eng, Univ of Florida, 228 MEB, PO Box 116300, Gainesville FL 32611-6300).This book is intended for use as a textbook for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in groundwater hydrology, groundwater hydraulics, and mass transport of subsurface contaminants. It is also intended to serve as a reference for practicing hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and environmental engineers. The book contains nine chapters, nine appendices, 460 references grouped at the end of the book, and an index. Chapter 1 is an introduction to groundwater hydrology with topics dealing with porous media, distribution of subsurface water, porosity and related properties of soil, subsurface hydrologic cycle, and hydrogeologic formations. Chapter 2 presents a discussion of Darcy’s Law, continuity relations for flow in porous media, and groundwater management models. Chapter 3, entitled Groundwater and Well Hydraulics, addresses topics such as steady and transient flow to a well in an ideal confined aquifer, pumping tests, slug tests, well tests, multiple well problems, potential flow for stratified aquifers, the interface in coastal aquifers, and other transient flow problems. Chapter 4, entitled The Vadose Zone and Groundwater Recharge, presents detailed discussions of soil water in the vadose zone, soil water characteristic curve, Darcy’s Law and Richard’s Equation, measurement of soil properties, infiltration models, redistribution of soil water, evaporation and desorption models, evaporation from a shallow water table, and water balance and groundwater recharge. Chapter 5 deals with sources of subsurface contamination, mass transport processes, the general continuity equation, solute partitioning, degradation losses of soil and groundwater contaminants, and simplified forms of the continuity equation. Chapter 6 entitled Solute Transport by Advection, includes topics such as advection transport, potential theory, potential and stream functions, some applications of potential theory, residence time distribution theory, standard flow patterns, and evaluating the environmental consequences of groundwater contamination. Chapter 7 is entitled Solute Transport by Diffusion and deals with Fick’s laws, molecular diffusion coefficients, diffusion in porous media, diffusion in multiphase systems, some applications of the diffusion equation, and volatilization losses of soil contaminants. Chapter 8 presents detailed discussions of one-dimensional flow and column experiments, radial flow from a well, transverse dispersion, the mechanical dispersion tensor, moments of the transport equation, analytical models of chemical spills and contaminant plumes, numerical simulation of solute transport, nonideal flow in porous media, and subsurface mass transport through the vadose zone. Chapter 9 deals with multiphase flow and hydrocarbon recovery. This includes topics such as capillary trapping and residual saturation, NAPL behavior in fractured media, monitoring of free-product petroleum hydrocarbon, NAPL infiltration in the vadose zone, screening models for fate/transport of organic chemicals in soil and groundwater, soil-vapor extraction systems, and free product recovery of petroleum hydrocarbon liquids. Many of the appendices have spreadsheet modules for topics discussed in the book. Examples include modules for calculating well functions, slug test well function, LNAPL distribution, and LNAPL recovery analysis. Groundwater Hydraulics and Pollutant Transport is very well written and organized, contains topics appropriate for its stated title and objectives, has numerous examples and chapter problems, and has very clear illustrations and diagrams. The author is obviously very knowledgeable in the subject matter and is able to use his skills in teaching the subject over many years to convey his ideas clearly to the reader. This reviewer recommends that the book be acquired by academic and research libraries as well as practicing hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and environmental engineers.